There was stifled noise from the table where the children were eating at the question. They already knew the answer
of course. But instead of causing the same excitement for Andi, it instead sent a relaxing, soothing, contented rush of
warmth through her and everything about her softened as her smile grew and went silly at the edges.
"More than anything in this world." She answered with a sigh.
Cassie nodded. She looked at the kids, who went back to their pancakes. Hector's laughter could be heard, he must
be talking to Pete. She looked at Andi. "He doesn't let just anyone in." She said. "I don't know if you know that, but that
makes you pretty damn special, so now I have no choice but to like you, because if he thinks you're worth letting in,
you're worth liking."
Andi nodded. Not at all sure what that meant. It could simply mean that Cassie wouldn't snip at her despite disliking
her very presence. She could hope for more but knew better than to put much trust in that. It was still, at the very
least, a bit of a truce and she could be grateful for that.
"My da heard him in my voice on the phone long before I ever mentioned him." She offered it carefully. Her family was
hers and they'd been mocked before by people who'd never met them so she was fiercely protective. But she had
become a part of something that was very precious to Cassie and it didn't seem fair to not share that vulnerability.
"Mum," she offered a flickering smile, vulnerable. "Mum fell in love with Hector long before she met him. She loves him
now because how could she not love Hector for simply being Hector? But she loved him first because I loved him and
so he must have been very worth loving. I've never been in love before, you see, and I would be very surprised if she
didn't cry the first time she actually met him. We live in Africa so they came before we left." The smile came and went
again, a bit stronger this time. She was proud of her parents. For so many reasons. Her eyes shadowed slightly at the
'why' of that meeting and why she hadn't been there for it as well but she wasn't about to say anything there. Andi's
slim hands moved. Shifted palm upward. "I don't want to be bother. Or cause any pain. I'm sorry if I do. You're
important to him. You're a large part of what he sees as good and worthwhile inside himself. And so you're important
to me. I wouldn't hurt you or cause you problems given the choice. He loves you. Very much. And so you must be very
worth loving."
Cassie was quiet as she watched the various stages of vulnerability pass over Andi's face. Then she spoke carefully.
"You're going to find," she said. "That there are people who are not overly enamored with Hector for simply being
Hector. In fact its because he's Hector that they're not his biggest fans." She looked over at the closed kitchen door
and back to Andi. "Our family isn't quite as close, some sections, and its not for lack of trying. At least on my part. In
case you haven't noticed, he just might be the most stubborn man on the planet, refusing to budge if he thinks he's
right or justified."
The edge of Andi's lips curved, soft and crooked, and she glanced over toward the sound of Hector's voice as well.
Thinking of what he'd told her about his interaction with the SAS. About his approaching her father on taking her here.
Thinking of the times he'd let her soften his approach to something. A man like Hector, living the life he had and doing
the job he did, needed to be stubborn. Needed to be absolutely tenacious and hard nosed enough to take the blows
and keep going. In his world sometimes that meant more than just success. It meant survival.
And sometimes it meant you got shot and didn't tell anyone until your body finally took over and shut you down.
Andi had her own share of stubborn when she knew she was absolutely where she was supposed to be. A man who
couldn't match or beat that wouldn't have been a match for her. Just a nice doormat. Thankfully she and Hector hadn't
come to an impasse on anything yet and she suspected it was because they thought a great deal alike even if they
reached the answers from different routes. And because they respected each other. The love just finalized
everything. She didn't know what they'd do if they ever hit a point that neither of them was willing to bend on. But she
had enough faith in their friendship to live with that possibility.
"He's horribly stubborn." She agreed fondly. Looked back at Cassie with a smile. "The nurse at his recovery offered to
give me the restraints they had to use in the beginning. Just in case I ever needed them. She certainly threatened him
with them often enough." Then her smile faded and she exhaled softly. "My - extended family - isn't so open as my
parents." She stated. Tentatively offering more to match what the other woman had already given her. "Some of
them," most of them "can be quite politely brutal. If you could - if you would," she went out on a limb, "I would
appreciate any help in showing me how to make sure I'm not the excuse or the cause of any harm." Asking placed her
in a vulnerable position and she wouldn't have done that given the option. But this was Hector's family. They were
important to him so it was that important to her.
"I don't know what he told you." She said, her voice dropping to avoid eavesdropping from little children, her eyes
fixed on the door. This probably wasn't even her place and her brother would so kill her. He was such a private
person, even she knew the face the family saw wasn't even his real face. Sometimes she wondered if he had a real
face.
"Our mom died when he was five. I was three and at my grandparents' house. They picked him up from our aunt's
house. He had stayed over there because our cousin is about the same age and they could play. It was her birthday,
Mom's, so Dad took her out for dinner and had too good a time." Cassie said, finding the door easier to focus on than
the woman standing near her. "He was drunk. He was a drunk, still is. He slammed into another car, crossed the
double yellow line going way way too fast. Hector was in the back, he broke his leg. Dad passed out at the wheel, he
got a few bruises. That's always the way, the drunk driver never gets hurt, isn't it? Mom....I'm not sure, but from bits
and pieces I've gathered over the years," which was the only way to really get information from Hector. Listen closely
and see what he dropped. Usually with fights with their father. "I think she ended up in the back seat with him." She
shuddered and closed her eyes for a moment.
"He blamed Dad. Still does. Won't budge on forgiving him, or even letting it be water under the bridge. And
Vanessa...that's our stepmother....she's a piece of work." She sighed. "He doesn't like her either, and she's all
sweetness and light toward him. Like saccharine. Too sweet to be believed I think. They fight too."
"Oh." The soft sound whispered out of Andi and she wasn't really thinking about it when she wrapped her arms
around the smaller woman in a comforting hug. So much pain in this family...
"I'm sorry." She whispered. Sorry for all of them. Sorry for the old pain and sorry for the pain that was new and still
living in a split family. She couldn't imagine what it must feel like to have lost your mother and to have your father be
the cause behind it. Hector had already told her most of it. Everything but the very last bit about where she'd died in
fact though she got the impression Cassie didn't expect her to know any of it and so she didn't say. Her heart hurt for
the little boy he had been. And for Cassie now still trying to put her family back together after all these years. And
even for the man that had been the lose of his wife and lost his son in the process.
She believed in forgiveness and how important it was. But she also knew that forgiveness wasn't something you could
simply switch on or off. It was a process and a healing and sometimes it took a very, very long time. Sometimes it took
an entire life. She couldn't say she disagreed with Hector in the least if he was still hardened about that. But she still
hurt for him and for Cassie who simply wanted things back to as close to normal as they could have been. She
understood a bit better now.
Cassie sniffed and composed herself and looked up at the taller woman. "You have no idea what you're getting into
with him." She said, and moved away as the door opened. Not wanting to give Hector any idea that they had really
been talking, and talking about him as it was.
Hector hung the phone back up on the base and sat down at the table in front of his own stack of 'elephant'
pancakes, and Josh slipped him the little bottle of sauce, earning him a wink from his uncle.
"So you two behaving yourselves?"
"Not at all." Andi told him with a smile, moving over to stand behind him and drop a kiss on the top of his head. Then
she absently smoothed out his hair with long fingers.
She might, indeed, be getting into more with him than she could anticipate. But he was worth it. She could be stubborn
too, after all. Especially when she knew she was right where she was supposed to be.
And she was.
"Have you warned the children about the dangers of elephants yet?" She asked with a teasing smile.
He chuckled. "I think the elephants should fear them. Are you sure you fed them before you left, Cas?" Hector teased
his sister.
"Yes." Cassie said, rolling her eyes. "Then we stopped on the way here for a potty break and snacks." But she smiled
a bit sadly and softly as she watched Andi's affectionate gestures toward her brother. Not over fear of losing her
brother. But if Andi left after realizing their family was more than any sane person should have to deal with.
"Cassie lives an hour from here." He said, tipping his head back to look at Andi as he put the distance in perspective
for her.
"Hour and a half if you count stops." Cassie said.
"Marcella has to pee all the time." Josh said.
Andi chuckled quietly and slipped her hand across Hector's shoulder to rest it over his heart. More than content to
stand this way forever. Or at least until it looked like someone wanted more to eat.
"Of course she does." She answered calmly. "There's all kinds of fascinating and interesting things in ladies'
washrooms. We keep all our secret spy gear in there and that's how we keep in touch with our fellow infiltrators across
the globe. Of course, these things never show up if a man goes in there but why do you think women always go to the
bathroom in groups?" She shot a look at Cassie and then back at the boy. "Of course, that's all top secret and if you
ever mention it to another woman she'll have to deny it. For security purposes, you see. Did you want some orange
juice with that?"
"I knew it." Hector said with a chuckle. "Everyone told me I was crazy."
"You are crazy." Cassie said, bringing her brother over his promised coffee. "But we all knew that."
"Is that why you went into the army?" Marcella asked. "Because you're crazy?"
"No." Hector said carefully. "I went into the army because my country needed me."
"That's not what grandpa says." Marcella said, in that innocence of child who doesn't know what she's really saying.
Hector cut a look over at his sister, who looked pained.
Andi didn't react. But she did notice, along with Hector and Cassie, that Josh reacted as well, his little face shutting
down as he concentrated on his food suddenly. She leaned down to rest her arms on Hector's broad shoulders,
looking over at Marcella.
"Sometimes adults say things that don't always agree, don't they?" She asked the little girl and got a nod in response.
If the family was anything like Cassie had warned her the little girl had probably overheard a great deal that didn't
always agree. Andi nodded back. "That's because people don't always see things the same way. The way you don't
see exactly what your brother sees if you're both standing in different rooms." Andi never talked down to children or
dumbed up her words but she kept the concepts simple. Marcella, sensing more was going on than she knew, nodded
again and Andi gave her a smile. "So when Uncle Hector tells you why he fights bad men, he's the one standing in the
room. Your grandda is standing in the other room and just thinks he knows what the other room looks like. Does that
make sense?"
Marcella thought it over carefully and Josh looked up at his uncle, eyes wide.
"Did the bad men shoot you?" He asked and it was obvious he'd been silently living with the thought for a very long
time. "They said you were going to die."